Last night’s Awesome Newcastle warmed our hearts yet again. We all arrived at The Criterion Hotel in Carrington to have a few drinks and learn about great ideas and people in the community.

We welcomed three guest board members. Mel Histon of Got Your Back Sista returned for another round of Awesome, and first timers Kara Sullivan of Guts Creative and Alex Richardson of Newcastle Permanent Building Society also joined us.

For our finalists we welcomed a crew of three representing Sandy Peaches: Chris Brown, Catherine Olivier and Trent Wrightson. We also welcomed Brayden Maybury of Offbeat Magazine. Unfortunately our third finalist completely forgot about the night,  so we had to make a quick change of plans. Luckily Catherine from Sandy Peaches also has a budding plus-sized fashion business, how convenient! She agreed to pitched her business as the third finalist; how great is non bureaucratic philanthropy?!

Sandy Peaches went first. Sandy Peaches is a relaxed social hang out for LGBTIQA+ people at Newcastle Beach. They meet up monthly, have a cuppa, go for a swim and connect. They created it as an alternative way for people to make new queer friends, aside from pubs, clubs, parties and apps. Sandy Peaches always has a host to welcome people, and their meetups ae growing. They bring  up to 40 queer people and allies to the beach. They would use the money to create merchandise the hosts (and anyone) can wear during gatherings, so newcomers joining can easily identify Sandy Peaches.

Next up was Brayden. Brayden is a photographer who grew up around Newcastle, surfing and skating. He works out of the Roost Creative Coworking Space, where he recently won a scholarship. Brayden wants to create a magazine of some type to engage, promote and recognise creatives in the local area that fit into the street style subculture of Newcastle.  He would use the money would go towards printing costs for the magazine and the artists.

Then we welcomed Catherine Olivier back to the stage. This time she talked about the struggles plus-sized women have finding clothes that fit. She said 66% of Australian women wear a size 14+, but all too often they feel left out of fashion. In less than two years, her label Luk Book is redefining what it means to be fashionable. She told us if she won she would use the money to host a market stall.

The judges had a tough task on their hands, but as always, a decision had to be reached. They cast their votes, and we invited Kara up to the stage to announce the winner. Kara passed the $1000 along to Sandy Peaches, how exciting and appropriate as June is pride month!

Congratulations Sandy Peaches, and thank you to all the creative, kind, generous folks involved. Remember, Awesome Newcastle applications never expire, and you can always reapply with new/updated ideas. Don’t be shy, and we’ll see you in July!